Journal-box.



v Patented Feb. ll, I902. -W. E. SHARP.

JOURNAL BOX.

(Application filed. July 15, 1901.)

3 Sheets$heet I.

(No Model.)

NITE' STATES ATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM E. SHARP, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE E. ROBBINS, OF IIINSDALE, ILLINOIS.

JOURNAL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,073, dated February 11, 1902.

Application filed July 15, 1901. Serial No. 68,360. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SHARP, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Journal-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to journal-boxes such as are used in connection with the trucks of railway-cars, and has for its primary object to effect certain improvements in the lids and lid-closing mechanism of boxes of this character, looking to the more effectual and perfoot exclusion of dust, grit, dirt, and all objectionable foreign matter from the outer end of the box than has heretofore been possible.

To this end my invention resides in a journal-box having a lid and lid-closing mechanism possessing certain novel and peculiar features of construction, all as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out and defined in the claims appended hereto.

A journal-box embodying my invention in its preferred form is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the box, partly broken out and showing the lid closed. Fig. 2 is an inner end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a view, principallyin central vertical longitudinal section, ofthe box as shownin Fig. 1. Fig. lis afragmentary detail, enlarged, in transverse section across the upper edge of the lid and the adjacent portion of the box and illustrating the dust-excluding joint between the top margin of the lid and the cooperating portion of the box-casing. Fig. 5 is a similar view in transverse section through one side margin of the lid and the adjacent wall of the casing and illustrating the dust-excluding joint between said parts. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of thebox, showing the lid at the extreme of its open or backward movement; and Fig.7 is a front elevation of the box, illustrating the manner of pivoting the lid in the overhanging boss ofthe casing.

The improvements constituting my present invention are based upon the well-known Master Car-Builders standard j ournal-box of the type using an oil as a lubricant. The wellknown affinity of oil for dust, grit, dirt, cinders, and other objectionable foreign matter has rendered imperative the adoption of means for protecting the interior of the box from the introduction of such objectionable foreign matter, and the labor and skill of many designers and inventors of this class of devices has been expended in perfecting such means for protecting the interior of the box and the journal and its bearing from the wear and injury necessarily resulting from the admission thereto of dust and grit. So far as I am aware, however, the best efforts hitherto put forth in this direction have fallen far short of success and in the present invention an effort has been made to improve the present construction of the box, more particularly by way of providing an improved manner of hinging the lid, whereby when the latter is in its closed position the usual crack heretofore existing in the Master Oar-Builders standard oil-box atthe top of the lidhinge is entirely done away with, thereby preventing the entrance of dust and dirt at this point, which has heretofore proved a serious defect.

Referring to the construction of the box in detail, 5 and 6 indicate the two side walls of the box, while 7 and 8 indicate the top and bottom walls, respectively. The inner end of the body-casting of the box terminates in a rounded or substantially elliptical shaped ring 9, which latter is interiorly grooved, as at 10, this groove containing a dust-guard 11, preferably made of tow and asbestos plaited together, and which when oiled expands and fills the groove solidly, at the same time snugly contacting the dust-guard bearing of the journal, and thus preventing the admission of dust and the like from the inner end of the box.

At 12 is shown a boss formed integral with the topwall of the box and considerably overhanging the body of the box at its forward end. This boss in its preferred dimensions has a width substantially equal to onehalf the width'of the box and is centrally located with reference to the lateral dimensions of the box. The boss is eccentrically apertured through the full width thereof to receive a pivot-bolt 12, on which latter is hung the cover or lid 13 by means of a pair of parallel hinge-lugs 13, secured to the outer face of the lid in a direction longitudinallythereof and at their free ends being pivotally sus-. pended on the bolt 12 and containing between them the overhanging boss 12.

In and across the outer end of the top wall 7 of the box and underneath the boss 12 is formed an acute-angled groove 14, which when the lid is closed receives the correspondingly-shaped sharpened upper edge of the lid, thereby providing at such point between the lid and its seat a joint which extends inwardly in an upward direction, thus providing a substantial seal against the introduction of dust or dirt by gravity of the latter. The outer edges of the side and also the outer edge of the top wall immediately below the groove 14 are also interiorly rahbeted or countersunk, as indicated at 15 and 16, respectively, while the side and top margins of the inner face of the lid are correspondingly countersunk or rabbeted, as indicated at 17 and 18, respectively, whereby the shoulders thus formed around the two sides and top of the outer end opening fit in the grooves 17 and 18 of the corresponding margins of the lid, and the shoulders thus formed on the under face of the lid, around the two sides and top margins thereof, fit in the corresponding grooves 15 and 16 of the side and top walls of the casing. This construction, as will best be seen in Figs. 4 and 5, provides a broken joint or double bearing of the lid on its seat on every side except the bottom, while in no Wise lessening the facility with which the lid may be opened and closed.

My invention also contemplates the employment of a novel device for holding the lid normally in closed position, such device comprising a flat spring 19, seated in a groove 20 in the inner face of the lid and having its 11 ppm or inner end projecting into a recess or pocket 21 in the under side of the overhanging lug 12. That wall of the pocket 21 (designated by 21) which the spring 19 contacts when the lid is closed is made perfectly straight, as shown in Fig. 3, while the under surface of the boss 12 is given a rounded formation substantially on the arc of a circle having the axis of the pivot-bolt as its center, as at 22, the lower end of the curved face of the boss meeting the lower end of the straight wall 21 of the pocket 21, and thereby forming a sharp-edged shoulder 22, while the upper face of the boss has a line of curvature somewhat in the form of an involute curve or spiral.

From the foregoing construction it will be seen that when the lid is raised or opened the inner end of the spring will first engage the shoulder 22, being flexed somewhat thereby,

and will subsequently slide upon the lower rounded face 22 of the boss 12 until the lid is about half-way between its extremes of movement, whereupon the spring will pass out of contact with the curved face of the boss, gradually receding therefrom as the lid is thrown still farther back until it occupies its rearmost position, in which it lies back .upon the top wall 7 of the casing, as illustratcd. in Fig. 6. When now the lid is closed, the spring 19 during the final part of the closingmovementisfiexed with increasingtension until it has rounded the-shoulder 22, whereupon the spring acts in an obvious manner to quickly snap. the door into final closed position and holdit in such position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention by I providing a broken joint between the lid and the top and side margins of the opening, forming in effect a double seat of the lid upon the casing and combining therewith an elastic self-closing device which holds the lid firmly to its seat, requiring a maximum tension of the elastic closing means in the initial separation of the lid from its seat, affords an efiective seal against the admision of dustand dirtto the'box and secures this desirable result by a construction presenting marked simplicity and ease and convenienceof operation. It will also be observed that by my construction I do away entirei y with the open joint or crack heretofore existing at the top of the lid-hinge when the lid is closed. In the standard construction of oil-box now in common use the upper central portion of the lid is commonly pressed or stamped out from the metal of the lid to form a combined shield for the hinge-boss and a pocket or casing for the upper end of the spring, which commonly plays over instead of under the boss. This stamped hood or shield being integral with the lid and extending some distance above the upper end thereof prevents the opening of the lid beyond a point at which the top of the hood contacts the top of the box in rear of the boss and also when the lid is closed presents a crack or opening directly above the lid-hinge through which dust and dirt finds an easy entrance. In my improved construction the open joint between the hood and boss creating this crack or opening is entirely dispensed with.

I claim as my invention 1. A journal-box, the top wall of which is provided with a projecting boss overhanging its outer end and further provided with an acute-angled groove formed in and transversely of said top wall beneath and behind said boss, in combination with a lid pivoted in said boss and closing the open end of said box, said lid having its upper edge beveled to snugly fit said groove when the lid is closed, substantially as described.

2. A journal-box, the top wall of which is provided with a projecting boss overhanging its outer end and with an acute-angled groove formed in and transversely of said top wall beneath and behind said boss, said box further having the outer edges of its side and top Walls interiorly rabbeted or countersunk to form broken joints with the lid, in combination with a lid pivoted in said boss and having its upper edge beveled to snugly fit said acute-angled groove, and also having the side and top margins of its inner face rab- ICC beted or countersunk to fit the broken joints of corresponding edges of the box, substantially as described.

3. A journal-box having an integral overhanging boss formed on the outer endof its top wall, said boss having a pocket or recess formed in the inner and under side thereof, which recess has a fiat front wall in line with theinner face of the lid When the latter is closed, in combination with a lid pivoted in said boss and a flat closing-spring secured to the inner face of the lid, the inner or upper end of said spring projecting into said recess or pocket and contacting the flat wall thereof when the lid is closed, substantially as described.

4. A journal-box having an integral overhanging boss formed on the outer end of its top wall, said boss having a rounded front and lower face and being further provided with a pocket formed in the inner and under side thereof, said pocket having a straight wall which is parallel with the plane of the lid when the latter is closed, in combination with a lid pivoted in said boss and a fiat spring seated in the inner faceof the lid flush therewith,- the inner or upper end of said spring projecting into said pocket and engaging the straight wall thereof to hold the lid closed, substantially as described.

5. A journal-box having a projecting boss and a lid-seat formed at the outerend of its containing-walls, and also having an acuteangled groove cut transversely in and across the under side of the outer end of its upper wa1l, in combination with a lid consisting of a plain flat plate the margins of the inner face whereof are suitably shaped to fit the seat of the box and the upper edge whereof is beveled to snugly fit said acute-angled groove, a pivot-bolt passing eccentrically through said boss, and a pair of hinge-lugs fast on the outer face of the lid at their upper ends em-' bracing said boss and pivotally mounted on the ends of said bolt, substantially as described.

W. E. SHARP.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, W. A. THOMSON. 

